How bad would it be if Holmes & Watson were gay?

[puako_alam]

I am pretty sure someone at Warner Bros. is ready to have Robert Downey Jr.'s head served on a silver plate to him. Downey suggested that Holmes was really a 'butch homosexual' and that there was more going on between Holmes & Watson than just a deep friendship.
Apparently, suggesting that a fictional character could be anything else than a morally sound heterosexual is still very, very bad.
Bad enough in fact that the current US rights holder for the Holmes- oeuvre has threatened to withdraw permission to make any sequels if a relationship of a homosexual nature between the two is as much as hinted at.
Of course, Andrea Plunket, the rights holder, points out that this is not about homophobia but about preserving the original stories.

PS: According to Wikipedia, when Watson (from whose POV the Holmes novels are told) is wounded, he notices this about the reaction of his friend: "It was worth a wound; it was worth many wounds; to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation."
It should be noted, of course, that in the 19th century the current definition of gay did not exist and friendships between males were often defined by words that today would suggest what we consider a gay relationship. The only one who KNOWS what was going on between Holmes and Watson, however, would be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Thoughts?

 

[ipso]

Well it is only a joke. I did not see the film, but if there is tension between the two characters, than it is bad. Not because of it would be immoral (heh), but it would be, as they say, "out of character".

Last week I heard the same rumor, that Watson and Holmes was "totally gay". But it is not true, Watson got love and married in the novel "Four oranges", when he was searching a crime with Holmes.

And also: if Conan Doyle would really write about homosexuality in the Victorian era, he would be banned and forgot forever. The mere fact, that there is a Hollywood movie about Holmes, proves that Conan Doyle's readers didn't see gay his characters at all.

 

[brmstn69]

Uh...I always thought they were gay...

While I haven't seen the movie yet, I have seen several snippets from it, and quite frankly, the interaction between Downey and Law remind me quite a bit of some gay couples I know...

 

[iFairylicious]

As a way to help you dear Wikipedia isn't the best site source....maybe to find other sources but not good to quote from because it is a public operated site. Can butcher and make up stuff on anything that isn't true for shits and giggles. Maybe for little tid bits of info but not a full on good site for a source media

 

[ipso]

Well I protest. Wikipedia has an awesome large database about who is gay Guess it is interesting for people.